As such, he is taking bold new action on his own to protect Texans from an onslaught of illegal aliens and deadly fentanyl smuggling.
On Wednesday, Abbott announced that he has signed an executive order designating the Mexico-based cartels as terrorist organizations while also empowering the Texas Department of Public Safety to take appropriate action to secure the border.
"Fentanyl is a clandestine killer, & Texans are victimized by Mexican cartels that produce & import it. Today, I issued an Executive Order designating cartels as terrorist organizations & directed @TxDPS to take immediate action to disrupt cartel & gang activity," Abbott noted on Twitter.
Fentanyl is a clandestine killer, & Texans are victimized by Mexican cartels that produce & import it.
Today, I issued an Executive Order designating cartels as terrorist organizations & directed @TxDPS to take immediate action to disrupt cartel & gang activity.
— Greg Abbott (@GregAbbott_TX) September 21, 2022
"I also sent a letter demanding the Biden Admin. classify Mexican drug cartels operating in Texas as terrorist organizations. Texas is stepping up to get these gangs & deadly drugs off our streets," he added.
I also sent a letter demanding the Biden Admin. classify Mexican drug cartels operating in Texas as terrorist organizations.
Texas is stepping up to get these gangs & deadly drugs off our streets. pic.twitter.com/nhfeVo2ESm
— Greg Abbott (@GregAbbott_TX) September 21, 2022
“Fentanyl is a clandestine killer, and Texans are falling victim to the Mexican cartels that are producing it,” Abbott added in a statement. “Cartels are terrorists, and it’s time we treated them that way. In fact, more Americans died from fentanyl poisoning in the past year than all terrorist attacks across the globe in the past 100 years. In order to save our country, particularly our next generation, we must do more to get fentanyl off our streets.”
Here is what Abbott's action entails:
- Establish a Mexican Cartel Division within the Texas Fusion Center to collect and analyze intelligence that will enable further apprehension, prosecution, and disruption of these foreign terrorist organizations.
- Identify, arrest, and impede the gangs in Texas that support the drug and human smuggling operations of these foreign terrorist organizations.
- Conduct multi-jurisdictional investigations of foreign terrorist organizations operating in Texas to support criminal prosecutions here and in other States.
- Conduct multi-jurisdictional investigations of transnational and Texas-based gangs that support the smuggling operations of foreign terrorist organizations.
- Target, seize, and dismantle the infrastructure, assets, vehicles, and buildings used by foreign terrorist organizations to smuggle drugs and people into and throughout Texas.
- Enhance southbound criminal interdiction operations resulting in the seizure of bulk cash and other assets being smuggled into Mexico.
- Intensify efforts under Operation Lone Star focused on detecting and interdicting transnational criminal activity between the ports of entry.
"Governor Abbott also directed DPS and law enforcement agencies to identify Texas gangs that support Mexican drug cartels and seize their assets in order to disrupt cartel networks operating in Texas communities, as thousands of Texans have been poisoned unwittingly by counterfeit pills laced with the deadly synthetic opioid," the press release noted further.
"With Mexican drug cartels disguising fentanyl as counterfeit pills and targeting children with 'rainbow fentanyl' pills, the Governor emphasizes in his letter that immediate decisive action is needed from the Biden Administration to combat this deadly crisis impacting the nation," it added.
The U.S.-Mexico border was the most secure it had been in decades under then-President Donald Trump's immigration and border enforcement policies. His "Remain In Mexico" directive, which was agreed to by Mexican leaders, was widely credited as the best of those policies.
Biden, however, reversed all of them on his first day in office. Federal courts eventually ruled that his reversals were legal. Now, 19 months later, nearly 4.5 million people -- that we know of -- have crossed illegally into the U.S., and taxpayers are supporting them. It's an impeachable offense.
But Biden's handlers want the chaos so it will be left to brave governors like Abbott to fight back.
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